Hydrodyne 17.6 XB from 1988 WaterSki Magazine

I ran across this information while cleaning my office.  

No telling what other treasures I will find.

We will not be adding an I/O so save your breath.

Word is that only a couple I/O's were made.

Upgrading to Evinrude digital controls

I decided to update my 1987 Hydrodyne to Evinrude Digital Shift and Throttle.  I had all the stuff we needed that had been taken off a demo Dyna-Ski boat and I don't like reusing used rigging parts and pieces on new Dyna-Ski Boats.  The old System Check Rigging is going on a nice original style 18' Hydrodyne I also own.

 1987 17.6 XB Hydrodyne 

restored in our boat shop several years ago.

Restoration included: decals, recovering original bucket seats, 

redoing the side panels & newer style rear bench seat.

Floor and transom did not need attention.

17.6 XB Hydrodyne restored interior

1987 Hydrodyne Dash with tilt hydraulic steering and Livorsi GPS

1987 Hydrodyne Dash with tilt hydraulic steering and Evinrude GPS

I wanted to retain as much as I could of the original gauges some of which are original to the 17.6 Hydrodyne I bought new thru a dealer in 1987.  I've lost track of how many times I have repowered my family ski boat.  Since I can, I do every year now.  Some lucky Dyna-Ski customer gets a used one summer 150 HP Evinrude E-Tec motor from my old trusty Hydrodyne on a new Dyna-Ski boat.

Many years ago I changed the motor controls from the old box style to an Evinrude recessed binnacle control.  Evinrude came out with a new and improved recessed control so I upgraded maybe 5 years ago. So this is the fourth time the control has been changed or upgraded.  Quite awhile ago I had installed tilt hydraulic steering to replace the original dual cable steering along with a now rare pair of 60 MPH Air Guide Speedometer to replace the 50 MPH ones I cold peg.  The first GPS Speedometer in my boat was a Livorsi Water Ski Speedometer which replaced one of the Air Guides and worked quite well for many years.  Eventually it died one day out of the clear blue sky after it was out of warranty of course so an Evinrude GPS Speedometer wired stand alone replaced it.  So now it was time for another upgrade of the now 28 year old boat.

Changing to digital I Command isn't cheap.  It is about a $4000 option on a new Dyna-Ski and customers report spending $6500 to have a dealer do the upgrade.  The change over takes a fair amount of time.  I'll guess about 8 hours in the shop for one experienced mechanic. 

The recessed control is different although it looks the same.  A different key switch and a panel with three switches is added to the dash.  The wiring from the dash to the motor is changed.  Old cables are removed obviously.  The mechanical shift and throttle linkage on the motor are removed and replaced with actuators.  The small block V-6's (135 HO, 150, 150 HO,175 and 200) use one model of actuator.  The big block 200 HO and up use another model.  A laptop computer with special software and cable needs to be used to calibrate the system for a couple functions.  It isn't a do it yourself project by any means.

Key Switch is now an on/off switch

Recessed Control

We ended up replacing the system check tachometer with an 3" digital gauge matching the one used for GPS Speedometer.  My ace mechanic determined keeping most of the old gauges working was easy.  He simply changed the 12 volt DC power wiring under the dash so the analog fuel, oil level, voltage, hour and water pressure gauges would work.  I will be replacing the analog trim gauge with a 2" digital gauge to monitor motor trim.  No way to keep the old trim gauge it seems.  Oh well but there is a lot more engine data available if one wants to check or monitor it.

3" I-Con Gauges set up as Digital Tach and Digital Speedometer

The new controls take a little getting used to.  The feel or tension of the control is adjustable but not easily but with no cable friction the feel of the control never changes ever!  There is more travel in forward so the throttle does need to be advanced more to get the same acceleration as the old analog control with cables did.  It is more responsive in reverse than the old controls so we are backing up quicker right now.  One caution is: Remove your hand from the control if a big wave is coming.  When you hit the wave you will change the throttle.  Sometimes a lot.  BEWARE!   The nice thing is small changes can easily be made with the digital controls with adding or slowing 50 RPM's now so easy to do.

The three new buttons on the dash are left to right.  Start/stop, in gear and throttle bump up or down by 1%.  After a couple hours a person does not even think about them any more. The brain is an amazing thing.  Not sure if we like the "BUMP" switch.

(L to R) Engine Start/Stop, In Gear & RPM Bump

WARNING: The digital controls are awesome.  Once you try them you may fall in love.  Keep in mind the new G2 Evinrude motors come with digital controls standard.  The G2 motors cost more than the E-Tec but the controls cost less than converting the regular Evinrude motors to digital controls they say. I have a couple G2's on a twin.  I'll try to get the guy driving the Dyna-Ski Boat with the twin G2's to give us his thoughts and I'll try to do the same with the guys driving G2 powered new style Dyna-Ski triples as well so keep checking back from time to time here.

Used tape to mark and protect dash while cutting new holes. 

 

Holes ready for switches and key.

On/Off Switch and 3 function buttons carefully installed in 17.6 original dash.

 

 Evinrude E-Tec Small Block (135 HO-200) ready to remove mechanical linkage.

Evinrude E-Tec Small Block (135 HO-200) with digital actuators installed.

G2 Evinrude motors on Dyna-Ski Boats

2015 Badgerland Dyna-Ski with triple G2 300's

Badgerland's 2015 Dyna-Ski has a 25" Transom

Shawano Ski Sharks Dyna-Ski with twin G2 200's

20" Transom model

It didn't take long for a few ski clubs to decide to go with the latest and greatest of the new Evinrude outboard motors on their Dyna-Ski Boats.  Keep in mind many ski teams repower their boats every year or two.

We are building a pair of Dyna-Ski Triples for G2 motors.  One with triple 300's and one with triple 200 HO's. Good chance there will be a G2 twin also. The Evinrude 200 HO thru 300 G2 motors are all the same size.

The larger motors mean that the old rope guard won't fit.  It does not seem like there is an easy quick fix other than buying a new rope guard that we have to figure out how to make fit.  The motors are longer from front to back around 8".  This means the center of gravity is further back on the hull as well.  The G2 motors are also taller.  I measured it at roughly 4".  The motors are heavier so the center of gravity is going to be higher and further back too. 

 I looked up the weights of various outboard motors. 

150 Evinrude                418 lbs

150 Mercury                 431 lbs

250 OptiMax                 510 lbs

250 HO Evinrude         513 lbs

250 HO G2 Evinrude  545 lbs (+ oil in the built in tank)

4 cylinder 150, 175 & 200 hp Verado  510 lbs

 6 cylinder 250 hp Verado    663 lbs

400 hp Verado            668 lbs 

 

The build in hydraulic steering does make for a clean installation.

The motor tie bars are sold only thru Evinrude so they are pricey I feel. 

The controls look pretty much like the regular cable and ICON electronic controls.

 The ability to bump engine speed in 1% increments up or down is available on the control.  It is labeled RPM.

Evinrude offers 3 sizes of touch screen controls 
and an adapter so their analog gauges can be used along with the touch screen.

The key does not start the engines the buttons do.

There is a spray deflector on the motors.

 

If you ever wondered what we install for pulling big acts on a twin or triple 

now you know. 

The Ski Sharks have a local company that does the wrap on their white deck & hull Dyna-Ski boats. 

Median Prices of Boat Classes

If you want to know what people asked for used boats sales last year this information comes from Boating Industry January 2015.  The information comes from boats listed for sale in Boat Trader, boats.com and YachtWorld which is mainly used boats for sale.  I'm not sure of how this compares to new boat companies reports which I have yet to see any signs of.  Interesting maybe?

What makes a decent water ski boat?

I get a lot of people shopping Dyna-Ski boats which is great!  There are several boats around similar in size to the 17.6 Open Bow Dyna-Ski. There are runabouts, fishing, fish & ski, bass, deck and pontoon boats.   They are not tournament style water ski boats. 
I wonder why there never seem to be any 
pictures of boats pulling skiers in most boat companies ads?

A Dyna-Ski 17.6 is a tournament style water ski boat.

17.6 Open Bow with 130 Evinrude E-Tec V-4 on Lake Dyna-Ski

Dyna-Ski boats are designed to pull water skiers from
idle to 40+ mph for barefooting. 

We do an excellent job of this.

 17.6 Open Bow with a V-Drive Barefoot Boom and 150 Mercury 

Do not try this at home.

With a water ski boat you don't want the bow up in the air while you are pulling skiers. It isn't safe either. Dyna-Ski boats have very little bow lift from idle to wide open.  A water ski boat needs to hold steady speeds from idle to 40+ mph because people ski at all these speeds.  A Dyna-Ski will hold steady speeds in this range. At faster speeds trimming up the Dyna-Ski boat motor slightly flattens out the boat's ride, decreases the boat's bow steer and makes the steering easier.  I don't know how the runabouts, fishing, fish & ski, bass, deck and pontoon boats preform and I don't care as Dyna-Ski Boats do what is needed for water skiing!  

17.6 Open Bow with a 150 Mercury 

 Not many people still fly flat wing kites but it is nice to know that you could pull one if you ever need to perhaps? 

We have flown a parasail behind my 17.6 sadly I never took any pictures.

 17.6 Open Bow with a BI Tower and 150 Evinrude

We can add most anything you want if you like, it just costs money.

We build Dyna-Ski boats for water skiers.  

We must be doing a decent job as we sell boats and most people keep them forever . . . . . . .

If you are shopping price I don't know how the others compare.  The outboard motor prices should all be about the same. Same thing for trailers however I put very nice custom trailers under Dyna-Ski Boats unless the buyer wants to save a few hundred bucks with a cheap trailer.  

Your boat will spend a lot of time on the trailer so I think it is worth the money.  

Fiberglass boats cost more than aluminum boats. 

Tilt Hydraulic steering cost more than cable steering,

recessed controls and premium cables are worth the money,

a dash full of gauges cost more than a gauge or two,

GPS Speedometer is awesome but not cheap.

Please feel free to share with me what the other boats sell for. 

You pay your money and you get what you want at Dyna-Ski. 

No matter how we rig the Dyna-Ski boat & what you pay for it you it will have a very good water ski boat.

Touch a Dyna-Ski before you buy?

When a person spends their hard earned money for a water ski boat they may want to touch one before they buy one.  Some want to drive one or ski behind one.  Believe me I understand this need although I bought my new Hydrodyne boat in 1987 without driving, skiing behind or touching one.  I bought mine based on reputation of the company and a couple of my friends had them.  It seems to have worked out well.  When the boat is a used boat without a warranty you should be extra cautious before jumping on a deal no matter how great it seems. Buyer beware.

When people ask me to touch one, etc. I do my best to get them in touch with owners of Dyna-Ski Boats.  I have a couple owners scattered around the US and Canada that love talking about and showing off their Dyna-Ski Boats.  These folks don't sell boats and all have real jobs.  You will need to fit into their schedules. They won't pressure you to buy and most don't usually know what a new Dyna-Ski Boat costs since many have owned their boats for several years however their spouses might still remember what they paid perhaps?  If you want to buy their boat go ahead and I will sell them a new Dyna-Ski but don't be surprised when they want to keep what they have.

So if you want to touch, ski behind and drive a Dyna-Ski just tell me and I will pass along your contact info to the proud Dyna-Ski owners. Once they give me the OK I will share their info with you.  Keep in mind that you will need to make all the arrangements with them unless you are coming here to Dyna-Ski World Headquarters as I like to call my place on Lake Noquebay in northeastern Wisconsin.  These are not vacation destinations or free ski schools, etc. so please be respectful of them. The costs incurred checking out the Dyna-Ski Boats are yours alone and won't be paid by anyone. Giving the boat owners a few bucks for gas is always a great thing.

Keep in mind at my place you won't see boats being built here as we do that at the boat shop near Iola, Wisconsin which isn't a cool place to visit at all.  Fiberglass products are very dusty to make.  They don't have a sign out front or posted hours of business.  Appointments are needed well ahead of time just like my owners group.

Dyna-Ski Boats

W6116 Pine Lane

Crivitz, WI   54114

Phone: 715-854-7501

Email: info@dyna-ski.com

 

Dyna-Ski Open Bows with towers

 Dyna-Ski 20' Open Bow with Barefoot International Tower

People often ask about towers on Dyna-Ski Boats.  Ask and you will eventually receive!  I'm not a big tower fan so I prefer and always suggest extended pylons as they can be removed although it can be a pain to have to put them on and take them off over and over.  The big reason that I don't like towers is a long term one and it is if you or your kids stop using the tower it is still on the boat.  With an extended pylon you just put it in the back corner of the garage and forget it is there.  Remember this is only my opinion and worth every bit of what you paid for it.  Nothing!  When you order a new Dyna-Ski you get what you want.

This is the same Dyna-Ski boat as the one pictured in the wrap around seats article so I won't go into great detail about the boat.  http://www.dynaskiboats.com/2014/08/wrap-around-rear-seat.html

Dyna-Ski 20' Open Bow is in South Florida which generally refers to Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Palm Beach (or West Palm Beach).

We have put a tower on a Dyna-Ski 17.6 Open Bow with a 150.  The boat pictured below was sold several years ago and I have lost track of it.  I am pretty sure some owners of Dyna-Ski Boats have installed their own towers but no one has shared any pictures of them with me.

  Dyna-Ski 17.6' Open Bow with Barefoot International Tower